What Happened in February 1968

Historical Events

Nixon Announces Candidacy

Feb 1 Former US VP Richard Nixon announces candidacy for president

Execution of a Viet Cong Prisoner

Feb 1 Saigon police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executes Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém with a pistol shot to head. The execution is captured by photographer Eddie Adams and becomes an anti-war icon.

Lombardi Steps Down

Feb 1 Vince Lombardi steps down as NFL Green Bay Packers head coach in favor of longtime assistant Phil Bengtson; stays on as Packers' general manager for 1968

  • Feb 1 World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi
  • Feb 2 Springer Publishers in West Berlin, bombed
  • Feb 4 Around 100 Indians and Pakistanis from Kenya arrive in Britain, escaping discrimination

Eckert Replaces Kuhn as Commissioner

Feb 4 Bowie Kuhn replaces William Eckert as 5th commissioner of baseball

  • Feb 4 Walter Marks' musical "Golden Rainbow", starring Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé opens at the Shubert Theater, later transferring to the George Abbott Theatre, NYC; runs for 383 performances
  • Feb 5 A fishing trawler from Hull sinks off the coast of Iceland
  • Feb 5 KDTV TV channel 39 in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (IND) begins broadcasting
  • Feb 5 Skater Kees Verkerk wins olympic gold in the 1500m
  • Feb 6 Dutch 2nd Chamber condemns US bombing of North Vietnam

Eisenhower's Hole-in-one

Feb 6 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shoots a hole-in-one

  • Feb 6 KESD TV channel 8 in Brookings, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • Feb 6 X Winter Olympic Games opens in Grenoble, France

Price

Feb 7 Arthur Miller's stage drama "Price" opens at Morosco Theatre, later moving to the 46th Street Theatre, NYC; runs for 429 performances

  • Feb 7 Belgium government of Vanden Boeynants falls
  • Feb 7 WLED TV channel 49 in Littleton, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting
  • Feb 8 Film "Planet of the Apes", based on Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel "La Planète des singes" premieres in New York City
  • Feb 8 Orangeburg Massacre: highway patrol officers kill 3 students and injure 27 others demonstrating at South Carolina State University, 1st student killing by law enforcement in the US
  • Feb 9 A rare 3-way tie for silver in the women's 500m speed skating at the Grenoble Winter Olympics; Soviet Lyudmila Titova wins from American trio of Jenny Fish, Mary Meyers and Dianne Holum
  • Feb 9 Rotterdam metro opened by Princess Beatrix
  • Feb 9 World champion Jean-Claude Killy of France wins the downhill at the Grenoble Winter Olympics; first of 3-event clean sweep of the alpine skiing events at the Games
  • Feb 10 "Spooky" by Classics IV hits #3

Fleming Olympic Champion

Feb 10 American 2-time world champion Peggy Fleming comfortably wins Olympic women's figure skating gold medal at the Grenoble Winter Games

  • Feb 11 Israeli-Jordan border fight
  • Feb 11 Jeffrey Kramer survives 76-m jump, Washington Bridge, Hudson River New York
  • Feb 11 Madison Square Garden III closes Madison Square Garden IV opens (NYC)

Golden Globes

Feb 12 25th Golden Globes: "In the Heat of the Night", Rod Steiger, & Edith Evans win

  • Feb 12 Dutch speed skater Ans Schut wins women's 3,000m event at Grenoble Winter Olympics; first 10 finishers beat previous Olympic record set in Squaw Valley (1960)
  • Feb 12 Frenchman Jean Claude-Killy follows his win in the downhill with victory in giant slalom at Grenoble Winter Olympics; clean sweeps 3 alpine skiing events with success in the slalom
  • Feb 13 After winning giant slalom in Innsbruck (1964) French skier Marielle Goitschel takes out the slalom gold medal at the Grenoble Winter Olympics
  • Feb 13 Swedish 10k cross country champion Toini Gustafsson wins her 2nd gold medal at the Grenoble Winter Olympics in the 5k event ahead of Soviet pair Galina Kulakova and Alvetina Kolchina
  • Feb 13 US sends 10,500 additional soldiers to Vietnam
  • Feb 14 Norwegian 15k Olympic cross country champion Harald Grønningen wins his second gold medal of the Grenoble Winter Olympics in the 4 x 10k relay
  • Feb 14 Soviet Union goes 1-2 in pairs figure skating at the Grenoble Winter Olympics; husband & wife team Oleg Protopopov and Liudmila Belousova edge teammates Tatiana Zhuk and Alexander Gorelik
  • Feb 14 WHKY TV channel 14 in Hickory, NC (IND) begins broadcasting
  • Feb 15 ABA basketball Anaheim Amigos Les Salvage scores 10 3-point baskets in game vs Denver Rockets
  • Feb 15 Biathlon 4 x 7.5k relay debuts at the Grenoble Winter Olympics with the Soviet Union taking the gold medal ahead of Norway and Sweden
  • Feb 15 Fred Anton Maier of Norway skates a world record 7:22.4 in winning the 5,000m at the Grenoble Winter Olympics; Dutch 1,500m champion Kees Verkerk is just 0.8s behind for silver
  • Feb 15 WVUT TV channel 22 in Vincennes, Indiana (PBS) begins broadcasting

Music History

Feb 16 Beatles George Harrison, John Lennon and their wives fly to India for transcendental meditation study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Music History

Feb 16 Elvis Presley receives a gold record for "How Great Thou Art"

  • Feb 16 Italy completes the bobsleigh double at the Grenoble Winter Olympics with victory in the 4-man; Eugenio Monti and Luciano de Paolis double up for gold winning 2-man earlier
  • Feb 16 US 1st 911 phone system goes into service in Haleyville, Alabama
  • Feb 17 Frenchman Jean Claude-Killy completes a clean sweep of the alpine skiing events at the Grenoble Winter Olympics when he wins the slalom; also takes out the downhill and giant slalom
  • Feb 17 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Massachusetts opens
  • Feb 17 Norwegian cross country skier Ole Ellefsæter wins 50k event at the Grenoble Winter Olympics; 2nd gold medal of the Games (4 x 10k relay)
  • Feb 17 Soviet Union wins its 3rd Olympic ice hockey gold medal in Grenoble; clinch title with final round, 5-0 win over Canada; Soviet LW Anatoli Firsov top scores with 16 points
  • Feb 18 After winning men's luge singles Olympic gold medal in Innsbruck (1964), Thomas Köhler of Germany teams with Klaus Bonsack to take out the doubles in Grenoble
  • Feb 18 Britain commences a trial of year-round daylight saving time (BST - British Standard Time, one hour ahead of GMT)
  • Feb 18 Thousands of people in West Berlin demonstrate against US involvement in the Vietnam War
  • Feb 18 X Winter Olympic Games close in Grenoble, France
  • Feb 19 1st US statewide teachers' strike begins in Florida [note: a two-day walk out in Utah in 1963 is considered first by some]
  • Feb 19 Children's educational TV program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" debuts on NET (now PBS)
  • Feb 20 Chinese space agency, The China Academy of Space Technology is established in Beijing
  • Feb 20 State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstration at Alcorn A & M
  • Feb 21 150,000 demonstrate against leftist students in West Berlin
  • Feb 21 Baseball announces a minimum annual salary of $10,000

Silent Sun

Feb 22 Rock group Genesis release their 1st record "Silent Sun"

NBA Record

Feb 23 Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points

  • Feb 24 "Darling of the Day" closes at George Abbott NYC after 31 performances

Scientific Discovery

Feb 24 Discovery of 1st pulsar announced (CP 1919) by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish

  • Feb 24 Gary Unger begins NHL consecutive game record of 914 games
  • Feb 24 US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam

Daytona 500

Feb 25 10th Daytona 500: Cale Yarborough driving for Wood Brothers Racing wins by less than a second from LeeRoy Yarbrough; grid set exclusively by qualifying times

  • Feb 25 430 Unification Church couples wed in Korea
  • Feb 25 Archbishop Makarios re-elected president of Cyprus
  • Feb 26 Clandestine Radio Voice of Iraqi People (Communist) final transmission

Vietnam War

Feb 27 CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivers a scathing editorial on America's chances of winning the Vietnam War

  • Feb 28 Pirate Radio Hauraki, on a boat floating off coast of NZ, returns to the air
  • Feb 29 Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" wins Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first rock LP to do so

Music Premiere

Feb 29 Howard Hanson's 6th Symphony, premieres

  • Feb 29 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Comm) reports against racism & demands aid given to blacks
  • Feb 29 US end regular flights with nuclear bombs
  • Feb 29 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Feb 1 Kent Mercker, American MLB pitcher (World Series 1995; no-hitter 1994; Atlanta Braves), born in Dublin, Ohio

Lisa Marie Presley (1968-2023)

Feb 1 American singer-songwriter ("Lights Out"), and daughter of Elvis, born in Memphis, Tennessee [1]

  • Feb 1 Mark Recchi, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (Stanley Cup 1991, 2006, 11; at 43 oldest player to score in Stanley Cup Finals Series), born in Kamloops, Canada
  • Feb 1 Pauly Shore, American comedian (Totally Pauly, Encino Man), born in Hollywood, California
  • Feb 1 Sean Millington, Canadian football fullback (Grey Cup 1994, 2000; BC Lions) and broadcaster (cfl.ca and CBC), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
  • Feb 2 Sari Krooks, Finnish ice hockey player (Finland, Olympics 1998), born in Vaasa, Finland
  • Feb 2 Scott Erickson, American baseball pitcher (World Series, MLB All Star, AL wins leader 1991; Minnesota Twins), born in Long Beach, California
  • Feb 2 Sean Elliott, American NBA forward (San Antonio Spurs), born in Tucson, Arizona
  • Feb 2 Simon Wickham-Smith, British composer and Mongolist, born in England
  • Feb 3 František Kučera, Czech ice hockey defenseman (Olympic gold 1998; Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks), born in Prague, Czech Republic
  • Feb 3 Vlade Divac, Serbian Basketball HOF center (NBA All-Star 2001, NBA All-Rookie First Team 1990) and executive (Sacramento Kings 2015-20), born in Prijepolje, Serbia
  • Feb 4 Kristen Marie, actress (Cheryl McKinnon-Another World)
  • Feb 4 Marko Matvere, Estonian actor
  • Feb 5 Chris Barron, American singer-songwriter (Spin Doctors), born in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
  • Feb 5 Eyþór Guðjónsson, Icelandic actor, born in Iceland
  • Feb 5 Marcus Grönholm, Finnish rally driver, born in Kauniainen, Finland
  • Feb 5 Nir Kabaretti, Israeli conductor, born in Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Feb 5 Regina Rajchitova, Czech tennis star, born in Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
  • Feb 5 Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican Baseball HOF infielder (World Series 1992, 93 Toronto Blue Jays; 12 x MLB All Star; 10 x Gold Glove Award), born in Salinas, Puerto Rico
  • Feb 5 Will Furrer, American football quarterback (Chicago Bears, Houston Oilers), born in Danville, Pennsylvania
  • Feb 6 Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer, born in Buenaventura, Colombia
  • Feb 6 Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer, born in Niigata, Japan
  • Feb 7 (Salvatore) "Sully" Erna, American heavy metal singer, and rhythm guitarist (Godsmack), born in Lawrence, Massachusetts
  • Feb 7 Peter Bondra, Lutsk Ukr, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals)
  • Feb 8 Claudette Pace (Buttigieg), Maltese pop singer ("Desire"), and politician (Member of Parliament), born in Naxxar, Malta
  • Feb 8 Gary Coleman, American actor (Diff'rent Strokes), born in Zion, llinois (d. 2010)
  • Feb 8 Joy Fawcett, American soccer defender (241 caps; FIFA Women's World Cup gold 1991, 99; Olympic gold 1996, 2004) and coach (UCLA Bruins), born in Inglewood, California
  • Feb 8 Ron Goetz, CFL linebacker (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
  • Feb 9 Alejandra Guzmán, Mexican rock singer ("Volverte a Amar"), born in Mexico City, Mexico
  • Feb 9 Rahul Roy, Indian actor
  • Feb 10 Atika Suri, Indonesian television newscaster, born in Riau, Indonesia
  • Feb 10 Peter Popovic, Swedish NHL defenseman (Montreal Canadiens), born in Köping, Sweden
  • Feb 10 Ryan Bowen, American baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins), born in Fort Madison, Iowa
  • Feb 11 Mo Willems, American author and screenwriter (Sesame Street), born in Des Plaines, Illinois
  • Feb 12 Christopher McCandless, American nomad, subject of biography Into the Wild, born in El Segundo, California (d. 1992)
  • Feb 12 Chynna Phillips, American pop vocalist (Wilson Philips - "Hold On"), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Feb 12 Gregory Charles, French Canadian performing artist, born in Montreal, Quebec

Josh Brolin (56 years old)

Feb 12 American actor (Young Riders - "Jimmy Hickok"; W. - "George Bush"; Hail Caesar! -"Eddie Mannix"), born in Santa Monica, California

Kelly Hu (56 years old)

Feb 13 American actress ("Sunset Beach"; "The Scorpion King"), model and beauty queen (Miss Teen USA 1985), born in Honolulu, Hawaii

  • Feb 13 Matt Mieske, American baseball outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Midland, Michigan
  • Feb 14 Chris Lewis, English cricket all-rounder (32 Tests, 93 wickets; 53 ODIs), born in Georgetown, Guyana
  • Feb 14 Jules Asner, American television personality, born in Tempe, Arizona
  • Feb 14 Phil Lewis, American actor and director (The Suite Life - "Mr. Moseby), born in Arua, Uganda
  • Feb 15 Axelle Red [Fabienne Demal], Belgian pop and soul singer-songwriter ("Sensualité", "Parce que c'est toi"),human rights activist, and UNICEF ambassador, born in Hasselt, Belgium
  • Feb 15 Kurt Robin McKinney, American actor (Ned-General Hospital), born in Louisville, Kentucky
  • Feb 15 Mieke Suys, Belgian triathlete, born in Ghent, Belgium
  • Feb 16 Cecil Gray, NFL tackle, 1990-95 (Philadelphia Eagles, Indianoplois Colts, and 3 other teams), born in Harlem, New York City
  • Feb 16 Erik Regtop, Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen), born in Schoonebeek, Netherlands
  • Feb 16 Warren Ellis, British comic book writer (Red), born in Essex, England
  • Feb 17 Bryan Cox, American NFL linebacker and coach (Pro Bowl 1992, 94, 95; Super Bowl 2001 NE Patriots; Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears), born in East St. Louis, Illinois
  • Feb 17 Patrick Uterwijk, Dutch heavy metal guitarist (Pestilence - Consuming Impulse), born in The Netherlands
  • Feb 18 Don Rigsby, American bluegrass mandolin player, fiddler, guitarist, and producer (Lonesome River Band), born in Isonville, Kentucky
  • Feb 18 Molly Ringwald, American actress (16 Candles, Pretty in Pink), born in Roseville California
  • Feb 19 Frank Watkins, American heavy metal bassist (Obituary - "Cause of Death"), born in Boca Raton, Florida (d. 2015)
  • Feb 19 Rob Dimaio, Canadian NHL right wing (Philadelphia Flyers), born in Calgary, Alberta
  • Feb 20 Bennie Goods, CFL defensive tackle (Edmonton Eskimos)
  • Feb 20 Ted Hankey, English darts player (BDO World Champion 2000, 09), born in Stoke-on-Trent, England
  • Feb 21 Pellom McDaniels, American professor & NFL defensive lineman (KC Chiefs), born in San Jose, California
  • Feb 21 Terry Allen, American NFL running back (Minnesota Vikings, Wash Redskins), born in Commerce, Georgia
  • Feb 22 Bradley Nowell, American ska musician (Sublime), born in Long Beach, California (d. 1996)
  • Feb 22 James Allison, British Formula 1 Technical Director of Mercedes-AMG, born in Louth, Lincolnshire
  • Feb 22 Jeri Ryan, American actress (7 of 9-Star Trek Voyager), born in Munich, Germany
  • Feb 22 Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, born in Rexton, Canada
  • Feb 23 Marc Price, American actor (Family Ties - "Skippy"), and stand-up comedian, born in New Jersey
  • Feb 24 John Velddman, soccer player (Sparta)
  • Feb 24 Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (d. 2005)
  • Feb 25 David Hulse, American baseball outfielder (Texas Rangers)
  • Feb 25 Evridiki [Theokleous], Greek Cypriot rock and electro-pop singer, born in Limassol, Cyprus
  • Feb 26 J. T. Snow, American baseball infielder (NY Yankees, California Angels), born in Long Beach, California
  • Feb 26 Leif Rohlin, Swedish NHL defenseman (Vancouver Canucks), born in Vasteras, Sweden
  • Feb 26 Tim Commerford, American bass player (Rage Against the Machine), born in Irvine, California
  • Feb 27 Loy Vaught, American NBA forward (LA Clippers), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Feb 27 Mike Sullivan, American NHL center (Calgary Flames), born in Marshfield, Massachusetts
  • Feb 27 Tore Aleksandersen, Norwegian women's volleyball coach (Allianz MTV Stuttgart; Norway, Finland women's national teams), born in Molde, Norway (d. 2023)
  • Feb 28 J T Snow, American baseball 1st baseman (NY Yankees, California Angels)
  • Feb 28 Mike Milchin, pitcher (Minnesota Twins), born in Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Feb 29 Bryce Paup, American football linebacker (First-team All-Pro & NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1995; Pro Bowl 1994–97; GB Packers, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings), born in Jefferson, Iowa
  • Feb 29 Eugene Volokh, American law professor
  • Feb 29 Frank Woodley, Australian comedian
  • Feb 29 Gareth Farr, New Zealand percussionist, and composer (From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs; Chemin des Dames), born in Wellington, New Zealand
  • Feb 29 Gonzalo Lira, Chilean-American novelist
  • Feb 29 Naoko Iijima, Japanese actress
Born in 1968

Famous Weddings

John Cleese

Feb 20 British future Monty Python comedian John Cleese (28) weds American actress and writer Connie Booth (27); divorce in 1978

Famous Deaths

  • Feb 1 Lawson Little, American golfer (US Open 1940), dies at 57
  • Feb 4 Eddie Baker, American actor (A Man About Town, Collars and Cuffs), dies of emphysema at 70
  • Feb 4 Gerard den Brabander [Jan G Jofriet], Dutch poet (Nothing New), dies at 67
  • Feb 4 Neal Cassady, American writer (b. 1926)
  • Feb 5 (Charles Luckyth) "Luckey" Roberts, stride pianist and composer, dies at 80-ish [various sources dispute birth year, 1887 to 1895] [1]
  • Feb 6 C. Montague Shaw, Australian actor (Buck Rogers; Zorro's Fighting Legion), dies at 85
  • Feb 7 Nick Adams [Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock], American actor (Interns, Pillow Talk, FBI Story), dies of a drug overdose at 36
  • Feb 7 Stuart Foster, American singer (Galen Drake Show), dies at 49
  • Feb 9 Barbara Everest, English actress (Inquest, Madeleine), dies at 77
  • Feb 9 Frederik M. baron van Asbeck, Dutch lawyer and legal scholar (League of Nations), dies at 78
  • Feb 10 Pitirim Sorokin, Russian-American sociologist (Social mobility), dies at 79
  • Feb 11 Howard Lindsay, American playwright, actor and director (State of the Union), dies at 78
  • Feb 13 Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, dies at 87
  • Feb 13 Mae Marsh, American actress (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance), dies at 72
  • Feb 15 Little Walter [Marion Walter Jacobs], American blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player, dies as the result of a fight at 37
  • Feb 16 (James) Healey Willan, British-Canadian organist, composer, and educator, dies at 87
  • Feb 17 Donald Wolfit, British actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, Accursed), dies of heart ailment at 65
  • Feb 18 Sigurd Erixon, etnologist (Atlas "ver Svensk Folkkultur), dies at 79
  • Feb 19 Georg Hackenschmidt, Estonian professional wrestler, dies at 89
  • Feb 19 Ralph Dunn, American actor (Mr Rudge-Norby), dies at 67
  • Feb 20 Anthony Asquith, British film director (Court Martial), dies at 65

Howard Florey (1898-1968)

Feb 21 Australian pathologist and pharmacologist who purified penicillin (Nobel 1945), dies at 69

  • Feb 22 Omer CFL Tulippe, Belgian geographer, dies at 71
  • Feb 22 Peter Arno, American cartoonist (New Yorker), dies at 64
  • Feb 23 Fannie Hurst, American novelist (Anatomy of Me), dies at 78
  • Feb 25 Camille Huysmans, Belgian premier (1946-47), dies at 96
  • Feb 26 Eric Feldary, Hungarian actor (Hold Back the Dawn, 16 Fathoms Deep), dies of burns at 55
  • Feb 27 Frankie Lymon, American pop singer (The Teenagers - "Why Do Fools Fall In Love"), dies of a heroin overdose at 25
  • Feb 27 Johannes Tralow, German writer (Ottoman tetralogy), dies at 85
  • Feb 27 Ludvik Podest, Czech composer, music journalist, and conductor dies at 46
  • Feb 28 Doretta Morrow, American actress (Because You're Mine), dies from cancer at 41
  • Feb 28 Juanita Hall (née Long), American Tony Award winning stage and screen actress and singer (South Pacific; Flower Drum Song), dies from complications of diabetes at 66 [some sources give date as Feb. 29]
  • Feb 29 Lena Blackburne, American baseball infielder, manager, coach (Chicago White Sox; discovered rubbing clay to take the shine off baseballs), dies at 81
  • Feb 29 Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet (b. 1886)